Record-setting City wins Manchester derby over United for 11-point EPL lead

Associated Press

Published 6:11 pm, Sunday, December 10, 2017

Photo: Dave Thompson, Associated Press

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Manchester City’s David Silva (left) and Sergio Aguero celebrate a win over United.

Manchester City’s David Silva (left) and Sergio Aguero celebrate a win over United.

Photo: Dave Thompson, Associated Press

Record-setting City wins Manchester derby over United for 11-point EPL lead

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Chants of “Ole!” rang out from a boisterous corner of Old Trafford as Manchester City finished off a record 14th straight English Premier League win Sunday by keeping possession right in front of its jubilant fans.

City won the Manchester derby 2-1 to set an English record for consecutive top-flight victories in a single season and hand United its first loss at Old Trafford since September.

City was the winner then, too. With 16 games gone, City is unbeaten in the league and looking unstoppable as it goes for its first league title under Pep Guardiola. Third-place Chelsea is 14 points off the pace.

“You cannot be champions in December,” Guardiola said, “but it’s important for our confidence to feel that we can compete on big stages with huge personality.”

City capitalized on two defensive mistakes by United striker Romelu Lukaku at set pieces to score its goals, with David Silva and Nicolas Otamendi applying close-range finishes in the 43rd and 54th minutes. Marcus Rashford scored for United, but the meeting of the league’s top two teams was one-sided.

In the other games, Wayne Rooney converted a penalty to earn Everton a 1-1 draw at Merseyside rival Liverpool. Arsenal scored in the 88th minute for a 1-1 draw at Southampton.

Spain: Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez scored after Villarreal was reduced to 10 men to give Barcelona a 2-0 win that maintained its lead of the Spanish league. Messi leads the league with 14 goals. Barcelona remained five points ahead of second-place Valencia, six ahead of Atlético Madrid, and eight ahead of Real Madrid.

In other moves during Sunday’s half-day trade window: Sporting KC also sent its second-round pick in next year’s draft to Atlanta for a fourth-round selection in the 2021 draft. ... FC Dallas traded defender Walker Zimmerman to the expansion Los Angeles Football Club in exchange for $500,000 in allocation money and the No. 1 position in the MLS Allocation Ranking. In another deal, LAFC acquired an international player slot for next season from Atlanta for a fourth-round draft pick. ... Portland traded forward Darren Mattocks to D.C. United for a 2018 international roster slot. ... New York City FC traded defender Frederic Brilliant to D.C. for $75,000 in general allocation money and a 2018 international roster spot.